Key operated lock



NOV. 24, 1970 A, E, MORRIS EI'AL y 3,541,817

KEY OPERATED LOCK Filed Jan. 28, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 24, 1970 A. E. MQRRls EVAL 3,541.31',

KEY OPERATED LOCK Filed Jan. 28, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 8 L4.y A v United States Patent O 3,541,817 KEY OPERATED LOCK Albert Edward Morris, Shortheath, Willenhall, and Reginald James, Darlaston, Stafford County, England, assignors to Lowe and Fletcher Limited, Willenhall, Stafford County, England, a British company Filed Jan. 28, 1969, Ser. No. 794,556 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb. 13, 1968, 7,071/ 68 Int. Cl. E05b 13/10 U.S. Cl. 70-216 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lock in which a lock plug member is rotatably received within a lock body member and held against rotation relative thereto by tumblers which can be withdrawn into the plug member by means of a key. A bolt element is slidably received in a guideway which extends transversely of the body member, and the bolt element is operatively connected with the plug member by means of a projection pressed out from the bolt element engaging in a recess formed in the plug member, which is die cast, eccentrically in relation to the axis of rotation thereof. The lock body may be coupled to a latching mechanism external thereto, and to enable the latter to be operated, the lock as a whole is rotatably mounted in a baring member and carries a knob. The direction of rotation of the knob from a datum position required to operate such latching mechanism can be selected to be either clockwise or anti-clockwise by positioning a transferable filler piece at a selected end of a part circular slot in the bearing member in which engages a projection from the lock member. The knob is secured to the lock body member by interengaging axially extending ribs and slots and abutment means are provided to prevent axial withdrawal of the knob from the body member in a direction away from the bearing member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention is more specifically concerned with locks of the kind (hereinafter referred to as being l of the kind specified) comprising a body member, a rotatable plug member mounted therein, a plurality of locking elements such as tumblers movable in, and relatively to, the plug member between locking positions in which they engage partly in the plug member and partly in the body member to hold the former against rotation relative to the latter, and releasing positions in which they are disposed wholly within one of these members, biasing means for urging the locking elements into their locking positions, a key-receiving slot in the plug member into which a key can be inserted to displace the locking elements to their releasing position preparatory to rotation of the plug member, and a bolt element movable relatively to the body member between respective operative and inoperative positions in which it respectively projects from said body member and is disposed wholly within said body member. y

The type of knob and lock assembly with which the invention is more particularly concerned comprises a hollow knob, a bearing member (referred to in the trade as an escutcheon rose but for convenience herein called simply the bearing member) for mounting the assembly 3,541,817 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 on a door or other closure member and providing a bearing defining an axis of rotation for the knob, and a key operated lock of the kind specified contained at least partly within the knob for locking or freeing the knob for rotation relative to the bearing member.

It is desirable that such assemblies shall provide for secure mounting of the knob relatively to the bearing member so that the knob will not loosen or pull out of assembled relation with the bearing member after an extended period of service, as is frequently the case in previously known constructions where the knob is held in position only by means of a grub screw or the like.

Further, such an assembly when in use is normally associated with a latch mounted on, or within the thickness of, the door or other closure member and includes a latching element which protrudes from the edge of the door or closure member to co-operate with a latch plate but is capable of being retracted when the closure member is to be opened by rotation of the knob. It is desirable that the knob shall be positioned, when the latch is in its operative or retaining position, in such a manner that the key slot which is accessible from, and presented at, the outer end of the knob shall be in a predetermined datum position, for example vertical, and that the knob shall be capable of clockwise rotation from this position to open a door or closure member hinged along its right hand vertical edge, and shall be capable of anti-clockwise movement to open a door hinged along its left hand vertical edge, since these directions of rotation are those most naturally performed by persons wishing to open the door or closure member. I

With regard to the lock itself, in locks of the kind specified the plug member is usually formed as a die casting of a Zinc based alloy because of the intricacies of its shape necessary to accommodate the locking elements and biasing means, which latter normally comprise coiled compression springs. Previously, movement of the bolt element between its operative and inoperative positions has ben brought about by provision of a projection in the form of a cylindrical peg extending axially from the inner end of the plug member at a position disposed eccentrically in relation to the axis of rotation of the plug member. This peg is engaged in an opening in the bolt element whereby rotation of the plug member causes the bolt element to slide in a guideway which is formed in the body member and extends transversely of the axis of rotation of the plug member.

One of the problems which has been encountered in this form of construction is that the projection on the plug member is prone to fracture and it has been found that this occurs primarily in consequence of porosity in the die casting which forms the plug member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of the present invention is to provide a new or improved construction of knob and lock assembly whereby the knob is more securely retained on the lock than has hitherto been the case.

With this object in view, we provide a knob and lock assembly of the kind referred to wherein the lock body member includes a housing portion within which said plug member is disposed, and which serves as a mounting member for the knob, the knob and the housing portion of the body member having respective interfitting keying formations which permit of axial assembly and disassembly of the knob from the housing portion, but hold the latter against relative rotation on the housing portion of the body member.

In one advantageous arrangement the housing portion of the body member is formed with a radially projecting flange fitting within the knob, one of the components,

namely the flange or the knob, having one or more male formations such as ribs or projections, and the other of these components having one or more female formations such as slots extending axially and within which the male formations engage.

A further feature of this aspect of the invention is that the housing portion of the body member and the knob are so formed as to enable the knob to be assembled with the housing portion of the body member by relative axial movement of the knob onto the housing portion from the inner end thereof, the knob and the housing portion of the body member having cooperating abutment means which engage each other positively to prevent axial withdrawal of the knob from the outer end of the housing portion of the body member.

The flange on the body member may be situated adjacent to the outer ends of the housing portion and may be a close sliding fit with respect to the interior surface of the knob, whilst the latter may have a radially inwardly projecting flange adjacent to its inner end which is a close sliding fit over the inner end of the housing portion of the body member. Between these two flanges the knob may be formed internally with one or more radially inwardly projecting ribs and the flange adjacent to the outer end of the housing portion of the body member may include slots for receiving these ribs.

This arrangement provides for extremely secure retention of the knob against axial withdrawal by abutment of the ends of the ribs of the knob against the inner ends of the slots. Further, the knob is located accurately by engagement between its inner surface and the ange on the housing portion of the body member as well as by engagement between its flange and the inner end portion of the housing, and is thereby prevented from radial looseness.

In some cases it is a requirement that the rotatable plug member of a lock of the kind specified shall return to an accurately defined datum or initial position in order to ensure that withdrawal of the key can cause the tumblers to move Without obstructions from the plug member into their locking positions. Further, it is a requirement that the knob shall be capable selectively of rotation clockwise or anticlockwise from the datum position to render the locks suitable for mounting upon closure members hinged along the right-hand vertical edge or the left-hand vertical edge. In some cases rotation from the datum position may require to be limited to a predetermined angle, for example 90, in conformity with the angular movement required to move the bolt element from its operative position to its inoperative position. For certain types of mechanism excess movement can cause the bolt element to move back into its operative position.

With these requirements in view and from a second aspect of the invention, we provide a knob and lock assembly of the kind referred to wherein the knob is mounted on the body member of the lock, and the body member of the lock and the bearing member have axially interfitting formations of male and female part-circular form of which the female formation is longer circumferentially than the male formation to provide for rotation of the body member and knob relative to the bearing member between angular limits, and a transferable ller piece is provided which can be positioned selectively at one end or the other end of the female annular formation to provide for clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation only fo the body member and knob as required from the datum position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved construction of lock of the kind specified in which the risk of damage to the operative connection between the rotatable plug member and the bolt element is eliminated or at least reduced.

With this object in view, and according to a further aspect of the invention, a lock of the kind specified is provided Wherein the rotatable plug member is formed with a recess disposed eccentrically in relation to the axis of rotation of the plug member, and the bolt element is formed with a projection engaging in said recess. Conveniently the plug member may be formed as a die cast component and the bolt element may be formed from strip metal stock.

In a preferred construction, the bolt element is formed as a pressed metal component, the projection being formed integrally with the remainder of the bolt element by displacement of metal in a direction transverse to the plane of the strip stock.

A projection formed in this manner is much less prone to fracture than a projection formed as an integral part of a die cast component. Furthermore, such projection can be formed at low cost and does not require a separate assembly operation additional to the placing of the bolt element in the guideway in the body member to bring it into correctly assembled relation with the rotatable plug member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described by Way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which all of the aspects of the invention are illustrated in a single embodiment, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section passing through the axis of an assembly of a knob, bearing member, and lock of the kind speciied,

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the bearing member and lock in exploded relation showing the provision of axially interitting annular formations and a filler piece for selective positioning to provide for clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation of the knob and body member from a datum position,

FIG. 3 shows a transverse section on line III-III of FIG. l illustrating the manner in which the lock as a whole is held against rotation relative to the bearing member, and

FIG. 4 is a transverse section on the line IV-IV of FIG. l illustrating the manner in which the knob is held against rotation relative to the body member of the lock.

DESCRIPTION OF THEl PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The assembly as shown in the accompanying drawings comprises the following main parts, namely a bearing member 13; a knob 14; and a lock including a lock body 10 having a spindle portion 11 and a housing portion 12, a rotatable plug member 15, and a transversely movable bolt element 16 operable according to the position of rotation of the plug member 15 to lock the knob 14 against rotation relative to the bearing member 13 or to release it for rotation.

Referring in more detail to the lock, the spindle portion 11 of the body member 10 is of cylindrical form and terminates in a non-circular spigot 17 which is typically of square shape in section. The spigot 17 constitutes means for connecting the body member to a latching means external to the lock itself, such latching means normally being operable by the knob 14. Rotation of the body element by the knob 14 thus would serve to withdraw a latch element in the latching mechanism from cooperation with a latch plate so as to permit a door or closure member on which the assembly is mounted to be opened and closed.

The housing portion 12 of the body member 10 is integrally connected to the spindle portion 11 and is also of cylindrical shape externally but is of larger diameter. Internally it provides a cylindrical bearing surface for the rotatable plug member and is formed with axial grooves 18, 18a 19 and 19a arranged in diametrically opposed pairs situated on diameters at right-angles to each other. These grooves are adapted to receive the ends of locking elements comprising disc or plate like tumblers 21a to 21e, and the arrangement of two pairs of diametrically opposed grooves makes it possible to provide for either clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation of the plug member from a datum position which is defined by abutment of a stop element on the body member with a companion segmental stop element 20a on the plug member 15 as best seen in FIG. 4.

The plug member` 15 which, like the body member is formed as a die casting, is generally cylindrical and of conventional form. It includes transversely extending channels for receiving the tumblers 21a to 21e, which are urged by coiled compression springs contained in cavities in the plug member 15 into locking positions as shown in FIG. 1 in which end portions of each tumbler are engaged in this case in the lower groove 19.

The plug member includes a key slot 22 for the reception of a key to engage through apertures in the tumblers, which apertures have upper boundaries set at different distances from the axis of rotation of the plug member whereby the edge of the key requires to be appropriately shaped before all the tumblers will simultaneously be withdrawn from the groove 19 upon entry of the key. The key slot 22 is formed in a flange 22a which acts as a closure plate at the forward end of the knob 14 and ts closely within the latter.

The plug member 15 is retained against withdrawal from the housing portion 12 by a retainer plate 23 which is urged by a coiled compression spring into a circumferential groove 24 in the housing portion 12.

At the end of the spindle portion 11 nearest the housing portion 12 of the body member 10, the body member is formed with a guideway 25 extending at rightangles to its axis of rotation, which is coincident with the axis of rotation of the plug member. The bolt element 16 is slidably mounted within the guideway 25 and is formed as a pressing from strip metal stock such as cold rolled mild steel.

Rotation of the plug member relatively to the body member serves to move the bolt element 16 between an operative position in which it is shown and in which it projects from the body member so that its extremity engages in a slot 43 formed in the wall of a spigot 26 formed in the bearing member 13, and an inoperative position in which it is disposed entirely within the guideway 25.

Operative connection between the plug member and bolt element is established by means of a socket 27a formed in the inner end face of a cylindrical extension 27 of the plug member 15, and a cylindrical projection 28 on the bolt element 16 which engages within said socket 27a. The cylindrical projection 28 is preferably formed by a pressing operation on the metal stock from which the bolt element is formed, and conveniently, but not essentially, such bolt element may be simultaneously blanked out from the stock whilst appropriate tools operate on the blanked out portion to form the projection 28. The projection 28 is thus subjected to a degree of work hardening and is substantially stronger than conventional projections formed as an integral part of conventionally formed die cast plug members. The plug member 15 may, however, still be formed as a die cast cornponent without detriment to the strength of the assembly, since the socket 27a is bounded on all sides by a continuous wall portion which is well able to withstand the mechanical forces involved in the operation of the bolt element 16.

The housing portion 12 carries the knob 14 which is typically formed as a moulding of a plastics material such as high impact polystyrene.

For locating the knob 14 in its correct position on the housing portion 12, the latter is formed adjacent to its outer end with a radially projecting flange 29, the radially outer edge of which engages the inwardly presented surface of the knob 14. Adjacent to the inner end of latter, the knob is formed with an inwardly projecting ilange which ts closely over the outer surface of the housing portion 12. In between the two flanges 29 and 30 there is formed on the knob a plurality of radially inwardly projecting ribs 31, the outer end portions of which engage in slots 32 extending forwardly from the inner face of the ange 29 for only part of the thickness thereof so as to be bounded at their outermost ends by a wall 29a. These ribs and slots provide a keying means between the housing portion 12 and the knob 14 and this arrangement provides a substantial improvement over conventional xing means such as grub screws or the like since rotation of the knob relative to the housing portion is positively prevented. Further, the outer end faces of the ribs 31 and the walls 29a at the ends of the slots 32 serve as abutment means which positively prevent any axial Withdrawal of the knob 14 in a direction away from the bearing member 13 over the outer end of the housing portion 12 of the body member.

The bearing member 13 is formed with a part-circular recess 33 outwardly of the spigot 26, and a coiled compression spring 34 is disposed with this recess to bear at one end against a face 35 of the bearing member and at the other end against a thrust washer 36 secured against displacement axially of the spindle 11 by a circlip 37 thereon. The body member of the lock and the knob carried thereby are thus spring loaded towards the bearing member 13 in a manner which prevents looseness, whilst at the same time the body member is positively retained against withdrawal from the bearing member by abutment of the thrust washer 36 against the end of the spigot 26 as seen in FIG. l.

To provide for clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation of the lock and knob assembly from the datum position, the forward side of the bearing member includes a part-circular recess 38 extending for slightly more than 180 and bounded by segmental stop elements 39 and 40 on either side of the slot 43 previously mentioned.

The housing portion 12 of the body member includes an axially projecting element 41 which is received within the recess 38 and can move circumferentially along the latter since it is of circumferentially much shorter dimension than the latter. The element 41 and the recess 38 constitute respective male and female intertting formations which enable the body member to be rotated relative to the bearing member between xed angular limits.

A loose and transferable segmental ller piece 42 can be placed either against the stop element 39, as shown in full lines in FIG. 2, or against the stop element 40 as shown in chain dot lines. This selectively restricts the permitted angular range of movement of the assembly of knob and lock from the datum position in which the key slot 22 is arranged vertically to either clockwise or anti-clockwise movement as desired as as to suit installation of the assembly with a door hinged along the righthand edge or the left-hand edge.

What is claimed is:

1. In a knob and lock assembly comprising:

(a) a hollow knob, l

(b) a key-operated lock disposed at least partly within said knob and comprising:

(c) a pair of relatively lockable members comprising a body member having a guideway therein and means for connecting said body member to a latching means external to the lock, and a plug member mounted in said body member for rotation relative thereto about an axis,

(d) a bolt element disposed in said guideway and operatively connected with said plug member and movable along said guideway on rotation of the latter about said axis between an operative position in which it projects outwardly of said body member and an inoperative position in which it is disposed wholly within said body member,

(e) a plurality of locking elements movable in, vand relatively to, said plug member between locking positions, in which they engage partly in said body member and partly in said plug member to hold said plug member against rotation about said axis relative to said body member, and releasing positions, in which said locking elements are disposed wholly'within one of said lockable members,

(f) biasing means for urging said locking elements into their locking positions,

(g) means for enabling said locking elements to be moved against the force of said biasing means into their releasing positions comprising a keyreceiving slot formed in said plug member, and

(h) means operatively connecting said bolt element and said plug member, and

(i) a bearing member having,

(j) a cylindrical bearing surface engaged by said body member of said lock and defining an axis of rotation for said body member co-axial with said axis of rotation of said plug member,

(k) means for receiving said bolt element of said lock when in its operative position for preventing rotation of said body member relative to the bearing member, and

(l) means for enabling the assembly as a whole to be mounted on a closure member,

the improvement wherein,

(m) said body member of said lock includes a housing portion in which said plug member is disposed and which is itself disposed within said knob, and

(n) keying means are provided on said knob and said housing portion for enabling said knob and said housing portion to be assembled with each other by relative axial movement and for holding said housing portion against rotation relative to said knob.

2. A knob and lock assembly according to claim 1 wherein said keying means comprise a plurality of axially extending intertting ribs and slots.

3. A knob and lock assembly according to claim 1 wherein abutment means are formed on said knob and on said housing portion of said body member to prevent axial movement of said knob relative to said housing portion in a direction away from said bearing member.

4. A knob and lock assembly according to claim 1 wherein:

(a) said housing portion of said body member is formed with a radially outwardly projecting outer flange at its end remote from said bearing member, and said knob is formed with an internal surface having a close sliding fit with said outer flange, and

(b) said knob is formed with a radially inwardly projecting inner flange at its end adjacent to said bearing member, and said housing portion of said body member has a close sliding t within said inner flange,

5. A knob and lock assembly according to claim 4 wherein said knob is formed with a plurality of inwardly projecting ribs extending between said inner and outer flanges, and said outer flange of said body member includes a plurality of slots in which the outer end portions of said ribs are received.

6. A knob and lock assembly according to claim 1 wherein said body member and said bearing member have axially intertting formations of male and female partcircular form of which the female formation is longer circumferentially than the male formation to provide for rotation of the body member and knob relative to said bearing member between angular limits, and a transferable ller piece is povided which can be positioned selectively at one end or the other end of the female annular formation to provide for clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation of the body member and knob as required from a datum position.

7. A knob and lock assembly according to claim 1 wherein said means operatively connecting said bolt element and said plug member of said lock comprises a recess in said plug member disposed eccentrically with 8 respect to said axis of rotation and a projection of said bolt element engaging in said recess.

8. In a knob and lock assembly comprising: (a) a hollow knob, (b) a key-operated lock disposed at least partly within said knob and comprising:

(c) a pair of relatively lockable members comprising a body member having a guideway therein and means for connecting said body member to a latching means external to the lock, and a plug member mounted in said body member for rotation relative thereto about an axis,

(d) a bolt element disposed in said guideway and operatively connected with said plug member and movable along said guideway on rotation of the latter about said axis between an operative position in which it projects outwardly of said body member and in inoperative position in which it is disposed wholly Within said body member,

(e) a plurality of locking elements movable in, and relatively to, said plug member between locking positions, in which they engage partly in said body member and partly in said plug member to hold said plug member against rotation about said axis relative to said body member, and releasing positions, in which said locking elements are disposed wholly within one of said locking members,

(f) biasing means for urging said locking elements p into the locking positions,

(g) means for enabling said locking elements to be moved against the force of said biasing means into their releasing positions comprising a keyreceiving slot formed in said plug member, and

(h) means operatively connecting said bolt element and said plug member, and

(i) a bearing member having,

(j) a cylindrical bearing surface engaged by said body member of said lock and defining an axis of rotation for said body member co-axial with said axis of rotation of said plug member,

(k) means for receiving said bolt element of said lock when in its operative position for preventing rotation of said body member relative to the bearing member, and

(l) means for enabling the assembly as a whole to be mounted on a closure member,

the improvement wherein,

(m) said body member and said bearing member have axially interitting formations of male and female part-circular form of which the female formation is longer eircumferentially than the male formation to provide for rotation of the body member and knob relative to said bearing member between angular limits, and a transferable filler piece is provided which can be positioned selectively at one end or the other end of the female annular formation to provide for clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation of the body member and knob as required from a datum position.

9. In a lock comprising:

(a) a pair of relatively lockable members comprising a body-member having a guideway therein and means for connecting said body member to a latching means external to the lock, and a plug member mounted in said body member for rotation relative thereto about an axis,

(b) a bolt element disposed in said guideway and operatively connected with said plug member and movable along said guideway on rotation of said plug member about said axis between an operative position in which it projects outwardly of said body member for co-operation with means external to the lock for preventing rotation of said body member, and an inoperative position in which it is disposed wholly within said body member,

(c) a plurality of locking elements movable in, and relatively to, said plug member between locking posi* tions, in which they engage partly in said body member and partly in said plug member to hold said plug member against rotation about said axis relative to said body member, and releasing positions in which said locking elements are disposed wholly within one of said lockable members,

(d) biasing means for urging said locking elements into their locking positions, and

(e) means for enabling said locking elements to be moved against the force of said biasing means into their releasing positions comprising a key-receiving slot formed in said plug member,

the improvement comprising:

(f) means operatively connecting said bolt element and said plug member comprising a recess in said 10 plug member disposed eccentrically with respect to said axis of rotation and a projection on said bolt element engaging in said recess.

10. A lock according to claim 9 wherein said body member is formed as a die casting and said bolt element is formed as a metal pressing, said projection being integrally formed with said bolt element by displacement of metal therefrom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,697,342 12/1954 McConnell et al. 70-216 3,455,126 7/1969 Spou et al. 70-216 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner A. G. CRAIG, IR., Assistant Examiner 

